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1999 URBAN WHEE
Executive o f the year:
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at Ford.
Since Janui try, Goldsberry has 1
vice president o f Global Service f
Strategy. Goldsberry was voted j
O n Wheels’ 1999 Edward Davis 1----------------------------
and was recently honored at the annual Urban Wheel Awards in
Detroit. H e is die third recipient o f this award, joining General
Motors’ Roy Roberts (1997) and George Frame (1998).
As a star among Ford’s high-level executives and an African
American, Goldsberry embodies the spirit o f the Davis Award.
While he is not ready to declare that the auto industry is vastly
different for minorities looking for management positions than
it was when he joined Ford seven years ago, he said the indus
try has made substantial strides.
“I wouldn’t say that it’s easier, but 1 would certainly say that
more opportunities are there and will be there in the future.
One of the reasons for this is that the industry has understood
that diversity is important to the way you do business,”
Goldsberry explained.
His new responsibilities at Ford include developing and
implementing the automaker’s global aftermarket and service
business strategies. The promotion comes at a time when the
automaker is positioning itself as a “consumer company, where
it hopes to provide one-stop shopping for customers.
Goltlsberry will help the automaker develop relationships with
its customers by linking sales with other services, including
maintenance and repair, insurance and rental vehicles.
“One of the things I’m trying to do now is connect those
products and services in the consumers’ minds and then connect
them internally from a Ford standpoint, ’ Goldsberry said.
"That provides a tremendous opportunity for us to be able to
grow those businesses."
The energetic executive has a reputation of faring well in
uncharted waters. If you ask, he’ll tell you that success has come
through hard work, an uncanny knack for seeking the right
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different environments in a variety o f industries,” he said.
In the mid-1970s, Goldsberry was hired away from BCG by
G ulf Oil Co. as a vice president, and sent to the company’s
operations in Europe. He studied hard and had a lot o f support
from upper management to overcome the challenge o f being a
young African American executive and a non-Texan in the oil
business.
It was in his next job as vice president of business and plan
ning with Hammer’s Occidental Petroleum, where he got con
nected to Ford. After a stint at Occidental’s chemical division,
Goldsberry ran Parker Chemical, the company’s specialty divi
sion in Detroit. When Occidental sold Parker, Goldsberry
attempted a leveraged buyout, but was outbid by Ford. He
stayed on as president and C O O of Parker, and later moved to
Ford.
He’s been there ever since and even teaches occasionally, as
part of Ford’s Business Leadership Initiative. The program
allows its executives to teach their philosophies to teams in other
parts of the company.
Goldsberry’s advice to young professionals looking to make it
in the corporate world is to find a mentor early on. It’s not
always easy finding the right one, he admits.
His commitment to mentorship runs deep. Goldsberry is
active as a mentor and fund-raiser for the Detroit Area Pre-
College Engineering Program, known popularly as DAPCEP.
For 22 years the privately-funded group has been motivating
and preparing minority youth for careers in engineering, science
and math-related fields.